Community
Working as a psychologist in the community setting
is more than clinical skills and knowledge. It comprises knowing your own and others’ roles, the legislation and ethics that govern your role and that of the wider organization, and learning to adapt accordingly to the needs of those you serve. It also involves being aware and sensitive to the diversity of the community and working collaboratively together with the broader team to provide more holistic care through provision of psychological knowledge and input, and through advocating for the client or for changes on a broader level. These five competency units are hereby highlighted in this module.
1. Collaborative practices
Collaborative practice occurs when professionals from different disciplines work together with clients, families, carers and communities to deliver the highest quality of care. This process includes communication and decision-making, enabling a synergistic influence of grouped knowledge and skills. Elements of collaborative practice include responsibility, accountability, coordination, communication, cooperation, assertiveness, autonomy, mutual trust and respect.
2. Ethics, Value, and Legislation
Ethics guide psychologists with a common set of professional standards to conduct assessments, research, decision-making, and interventions to individuals, organisations, and the community. Psychologists rely on these ethical guidelines and frameworks to uphold and maintain the knowledge and awareness of the ethical standards of the profession. It aims to ensure the well-being and the protection of individuals.
3. Influence
To influence is to have an impact on the behaviours, attitudes, opinions and choices of others. The psychologist in a community organisation makes a positive impact on the wellbeing of clients, caregivers and staff by using their influence to create change and drive towards excellence in community practice. Elements of influence include building trust, establishing credibility, building relationships with others, clarifying expectations and practice accountability, sharing your passions and being open to influence. Psychologists can influence in various levels within the organisation. Some examples of how psychologists can influence on an individual, peer, and systems level are explored here.
4. Individual and Cultural Diversity
This unit is about providing psychologists with professional guidelines and resources on working with people from culturally diverse backgrounds (i.e., individual and group differences). These differences include ethnicity, age/developmental stage, disability, socioeconomic class, religion/spirituality, gender and sexuality, and language.
5. Professional Consultation
Although the definition of professional consultation varies across settings, consultation is widely referred to as a problem-solving process initiated to better equip consultees with the necessary skill sets to work with clients and to improve services provided to clients. Consultants can be internal or external professionals and participation is voluntary for both consultant and consultee.
6. Telehealth
Telehealth is a mode of service delivery that leverages technology to deliver intervention services to clients virtually. In this model, intervention services can be conducted via a range of communication platforms including video-conferencing, phone calls, electronic mails or text messages and services can be delivered fully online (i.e., without in-person interactions) or through a hybrid model combining both in-person and online sessions.
We have prepared a playbook with the hope that EI professionals will feel more confident in using technology to provide the best for their clients.